Dream of becoming self-sustained led Harbhajan Kaur from Chandigarh to make 100-year-old delicacy, 'Besan Di Barfi' into a business at 94!

Harbhajan Kaur is a popular name on social media now. As she makes 'Besan Ki Barfi' using her family recipe which is more than 100 years old, she proves how dreams are not confined to age.

#AgeNoBar is the hashtag used for Harbhajan Kaur, a 94-year-old entrepreneur from Chandigarh, on her social media handles. Her granddaughter, Supriya, who is behind her social media presence, knows that it best suits her granny's determination to make a living at the age of 94 by selling her 100 years old family's delicacy, 'Besan di Barfi'.

Mrs. Kaur is not only popular for her best-selling dish, barfi but her seasonal creations like Sharbat, Jams, Achars, Chutneys, and Halwa also have a special place in the hearts of her customers. For the same reason now, after four years of operations, her brand 'Harbhajan's- Bachpan Yaad Aajaye (You will remember your childhood)' has been put on the shelf of their home-run supermarket that goes by the name, Stockhome in Chandigarh.

The beginning of Mrs. Kaur's journey as an entrepreneur dates back to almost four years back when she was turning 90. While sitting with her youngest daughter, Raveena Suri, Mrs. Kaur spoke up about how she did not want to sit idle at home as now her children and grandchildren were settled and how she wanted to make a living on her own. Listening to this, her daughter gave her an idea to continue doing what she was doing all her life, to make the world taste her delicacies. "She wanted to know how it felt being independent," says her granddaughter, Supriya.

Early life of Harbhajan Kaur, an inspiration

Hailing from Tarn Taran, a small town close to Amritsar, Harbhajan Kaur used to make barfis since her teen years after learning the recipe from her father, who was also a good cook. Though she could not study after Class 8 and married off in her initial 20s, she never left her favorite thing - cooking. Her father used to prepare the Barfi Thals to send to his daughter's home. Mrs. Kaur, who had 8 siblings, also continued the legacy of making Besan ki barfi on special occasions and have been making it for more than 8 decades!

"It had started with one or two fortnightly pop-ups within Chandigarh four years back. Her stuff sold over the counter instantly and she received so much love. Thereafter, orders started pouring and we fulfilled them all from our hearts and our home kitchen," says Supriya.

She also remembers how her grandmother was so happy on receiving the first earning from the counter that she had given a treat to her daughters at the "old-school Indian Coffee House".

What started then never stopped for Mrs. Kaur and her family. Currently, her whole family is involved in research, production, and packaging work and fulfilling orders that come the way of Harbhajan's. It's not unlikely for Mrs. Kaur to have made nearly 500 kgs of Besan Barfi along with making Aam ka Achar and BadaamSharbat during summers to various kinds of Halwa during winters. She has also taught the family the importance of utilizing resources as even the melon seeds are not thrown but used for garnishing of Besan Barfi.

As the reach of the products made at home and love of Mrs. Kaur increased through the "mouth of the word", the younger generation, especially, Supriya took no time in launching her Instagram page, which also received a huge following in a short span. One can see Mrs. Kaur's "behind the scenes" videos on the page, often made by her grandchildren. "We are currently taking small steps in our way with her (Mrs.Kaur) being our backbone, our Heroine!" says Supriya.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Harbhajan Kaur (@harbhajansmadewithlove)

Passionate about her work and dream of becoming independent at the age of 90, Mrs. Kaur often says, "Beta ik vaar pair rakhan do jagaah banao te behan di jagga mil hi jaandi hai (Once you make space to put your foot, you definitely get the place to sit too)."

Also Read: With quirky quilts and colourful toy pillows, these Uttarakhand women from ‘Purkal Stree Shakti’ are quilting joys!

For more such stories follow Local Samosa on  Facebook,  Instagram,  Twitter, and Telegram.